Infielder Pedro Alvarez and the Baltimore Orioles have agreed to a $5.75 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the deal had not yet been completed by the Orioles.
Baltimore likely will give Alvarez the bulk of his playing time at designated hitter. His arrival probably means Mark Trumbo will play right field.
Orioles Manager Buck Showalter said Trumbo has been taking outfield practice throughout spring training
“We knew that a possible addition might come, and we want to be able to not wait until the end,” Showalter said in Sarasota, Florida.
Alvarez was shifted from third base to first by Pittsburgh in August 2014 because of poor defense. He became a free agent in December when the Pirates declined to offer a contract because they didn’t want to pay what he would earn in salary arbitration.
ROYALS: In what truly became a “B” game at spring training, a swarm of bees briefly delayed Kansas City’s 3-2 win over the Rockies on Tuesday at Surprise, Arizona.
Edinson Volquez threw three hitless innings for the Royals, but the insects caused the biggest buzz. They sent Kansas City Manager Ned Yost, members of his coaching staff and fans scurrying early in the exhibition matchup. Yost and his coaches like to sit on folding chairs outside the dugout, and the bees caused them to duck for cover.
The bees were removed in a plastic trash bag after the top of the third inning. Lowell Hutchinson, a retired beekeeper from St. Joseph, Missouri, came out of the stands to assist with gathering them. With the scarcity of honey bees, Yost implored the bees be saved, not exterminated.
BRAVES: Atlanta and Miami will play on the U.S. military base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on July 3 in a 12,500-capacity ballpark to be built with funding by Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
The ballpark will be converted to a softball field after the game.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Atlanta’s Turner Field, and the Braves will remain the home team. The game will be televised by ESPN as part of its Sunday night baseball schedule.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement that it will be “a unique event that will benefit the men and women of Fort Bragg and their families for many years.”
MARLINS: Reliever Carter Capps has a torn ligament in his throwing elbow that requires Tommy John surgery and will sideline him for the entire season. Capps had been expected to compete for the closer’s job.
PHILLIES: Outfielder Aaron Altherr will be sidelined for four to six months after having surgery on his left wrist.
YANKEES: CC Sabathia pitched two hitless innings in his first start of spring training for New York, which lost 1-0 to the Marlins. Sabathia threw 25 pitches, 16 for strikes, in his first outing since he entered an alcohol rehab program last October.
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